Sunday, April 6, 2008

Session 201- Turn Reference

Tuesday night was my first Q&A with Jason Martinsen, and it was a blast. He's super outgoing, and very funny. He got us all thinking about our career plans, and also gave us some good advice for Class 2. To summarize: focus on body mechanics, not stories or personality, and keep shots simple and short. :)

I chose a model turn, because it will be a completely different turn than the "surprised" turn I did last time, and it also gives me a chance to go back to the walk. Walks were definitely my struggling point of Class 1, something I need to conquer before I move on to acting. Check out the reference!




A little personality, but a better choice than 12 weeks ago, when I created a whole back story for the Ballie turn. It ended up not reading like I wanted it to, because I wanted to do too much with a limited character. Lesson learned: Ballie has no arms.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

On the fifteenth of May, in the Jungle of Nool, in the heat of the day, in the cool of the pool...

As a great way to start off spring term, I finally saw Horton today! I will say that is was AWESOME, and not just because my new mentor Jason Martinsen worked on it. :) What's also awesome is the number of AM names I saw in the credits! So so cool to see the names of graduates going by, big CONGRATS to everyone who worked on it.



Without giving anything away, Jojo was my favorite character, and I absolutely loved the scene in the observatory. I would love have been able to get my hands on one of the Who rigs, their faces look like so much fun to animate. The whole movie looked fun to animate! I also loved the textures they used, I really wanted to touch that clover! They kept up the whimsical look of Dr. Seuss in the environment, but made it look like you could actually touch the elephant's skin, or the feathers. Awesome!

In other Caroline Animation News, I'm back to AM! Hooray!!! I am so refreshed and ready to start! It's time for Body Mechanics, Part II. It's great to be back and see everyone again, and I'm looking forward to seeing what my old classmates are up to in Class 3!

On a personal and more somber note, my dad was diagnosed with cancer about a week and a half ago. There is a fairly large tumor located in his abdomen, very close to his aorta, but not affecting any major organs. The doctors are now thinking its benign, which is new and great news. However, there is still a small chance that they won't be able to remove it, so please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. It's been a tough time, but the only thing to do in these situations is to stay positive. We've had a lot of good news, and so much support from friends and family. I'm especially blessed, because I just recently moved back to my hometown. And I go to this great online school, so I don't need to worry about missing classes. :) My dad is staying very positive too, even finding a little humor in it here and there. As hard as situations like these are, they really bring out the best in people. You laugh harder, cry when you feel the need, and really treasure your time with family.

Let's end it where I began, back in the Jungle of Nool...

I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent.